Can older homes be cozy and fossil-free?

Mar 5 2018 - 7:00pm to 9:00pm

St. Matthew’s United Church, 729 St. Clair W (one block west of Christie, enter from Rushton).

Would you like a snug and thrifty home? Are you tired of belching greenhouse gases just to stay warm? Come and hear about a better way from two Toronto pioneers who have dramatically improved the energy efficiency of their own single-family homes. Learn about the “negawatt”, the cheapest form of energy of all, and why insulation is key.

How much can we expect to achieve just by retrofitting our older, single-family homes? What would it cost? Hear the fascinating answers from two people who have put their homes on the line and probed all the options.

Speaker #1: Gord Fraser, The Ravina Project
Gord will tell us about “The Ravina Project” in which he turned his 1920’s era home into a privately-funded green energy research experiment. Over the past ten years he has carefully tracked and analyzed his home’s energy data while working towards household “decarbonization” on a retiree’s budget.

Speaker #2: Sheena Sharp, Principal Architect, Coolearth Architecture
Sheena will tell us how she is transforming her 1920's era semi-detached home into a net-zero house. Hear about her deep energy retrofit, which included extensive insulation and air sealing and a new air-source heat pump “furnace”. Sheena’s hope was to break away from Enbridge. Did she succeed? Come and find out!

Right now you can benefit from thousands of dollars in Ontario government rebates on the costs of home energy retrofits. You can get full details here. Join us on March 5 and be inspired by Gord and Sheena’s trailblazing quest for a cozy, fossil-free home!